School Expenses
From: norma
I noticed in your budgets there was no allowances
for school expenses,such as lunch money,activity
fees,book rental,field trips,school pictures etc.
First those budgets were made before Tawra had children in school but even now that she does have them in school and when I had mine in school we haven't found that we have enough school expenses to even really have to budget them in. For example kids are going to eat a lunch whether they are at home or in school so that just goes into general food expense.
If you find school lunches are more then just send them a sack lunch.
Activities are limited. The kids can pick 2-3 activities a year that we pay for and anything more they need to earn the money for it themselves. This may seem harsh or unfair to some but what is interesting is most of the time what happens is that the kids find they didn't want to go to the activity as much as they thought they did if they have to pay for it.
Things like field trips can get out of hand sometimes so if possible talk to the teacher and find out which ones are required or not. Often a lot of them the teacher just mentions but they aren't required.
School pictures, if you really must get them buy the smallest amount. I'm a grandma now and as much as I love getting pictures of my grandkids I really don't care if they are school pictures or something sent to me over the Internet so don't feel that you have to buy enough pictures for every Tom, Dick and Harry or even grandma. If grandma really wants them just say we can't afford them and if they want them that bad they can buy them. I just recently found packets and packets of school pictures of my kids packed away. I thought why am I keeping 40 pictures of the same pose and they weren't even very good pictures of my kids in the first place.
I guess part of what I'm saying is if you just don't have the money for these things there usually is a way around them. You need to just say no to your kids or talk to the teacher to see if there is some other alternative. Jill
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I noticed in your budgets there was no allowances
for school expenses,such as lunch money,activity
fees,book rental,field trips,school pictures etc.
First those budgets were made before Tawra had children in school but even now that she does have them in school and when I had mine in school we haven't found that we have enough school expenses to even really have to budget them in. For example kids are going to eat a lunch whether they are at home or in school so that just goes into general food expense.
If you find school lunches are more then just send them a sack lunch.
Activities are limited. The kids can pick 2-3 activities a year that we pay for and anything more they need to earn the money for it themselves. This may seem harsh or unfair to some but what is interesting is most of the time what happens is that the kids find they didn't want to go to the activity as much as they thought they did if they have to pay for it.
Things like field trips can get out of hand sometimes so if possible talk to the teacher and find out which ones are required or not. Often a lot of them the teacher just mentions but they aren't required.
School pictures, if you really must get them buy the smallest amount. I'm a grandma now and as much as I love getting pictures of my grandkids I really don't care if they are school pictures or something sent to me over the Internet so don't feel that you have to buy enough pictures for every Tom, Dick and Harry or even grandma. If grandma really wants them just say we can't afford them and if they want them that bad they can buy them. I just recently found packets and packets of school pictures of my kids packed away. I thought why am I keeping 40 pictures of the same pose and they weren't even very good pictures of my kids in the first place.
I guess part of what I'm saying is if you just don't have the money for these things there usually is a way around them. You need to just say no to your kids or talk to the teacher to see if there is some other alternative. Jill
Visit us for money saving tips and free recipes!
www.LivingOnADime.com
posted by Tawra Jean at 10:24 AM
2 Comments:
Jill has some very good points. I will say I have never heard of book rental fees in public schools. Is this common where you live? If so, perhaps this needs to be addressed at the local or even state level.
If you do choose to talk to a teacher or coach about help with fees, please make sure you REALLY need the help - be honest, how much do you as a parent spend on your OWN recreational activities? Don't forget, activities keep your child busy and connected, off the streets and hopefully developing some innate talent. If you receive financial aid be sure to express your appreciation with at a minimum a nice note and perhaps some homemade goodies.
Christy
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